A peaceful gathering turned violent last week when thousands of Hmong demonstrators clashed with government forces in Vietnam. What started out as a religious assembly of Hmong Christians turned into a violent repression as their prayers were interrupted and crushed by the Vietnamese Communist Party. The Communist government moved in their military and security forces into the province of Dien Bien to suppress the religious demonstration of the Hmong poeple, killing about 49, wounding several hundreds, and detaining countless more.

This is the latest example in how far the Communist Party will go to defend their own power. They will not hesitate to murder their own population to maintain their stranglehold on governance. For a Communist, terror and atrocity is not the last resort, but rather a conventional tactic. In response to recent criticism, the Communist Party rationalizes their actions by saying that the Hmong protestors of using religion to undermine the state and “calling for a separate empire of the Hmong people,” which is not only absurd, but just stupid.

The United States government says that they will investigate the situation, which could mean many things. At this moment, the U.S. is not very happy with the Vietnamese Communists, but still wants to have them as allies as counter-weight against China. That is why they are keeping an uneasy silence against the recent crimes of the VCP. The arrest of Cu Huy Ha Vu last month came at the chagrin of the Americans, now this recent attack on the Hmong protestors is further straining the relationship. The Communists really need to recognize the value of the U.S. as a potential partner. Supporting human rights and international law is a simple act that can have so many positive results. They should think about that.